


The Songs She Plays

by alwaysgocrazy



Series: Love Through Song [3]
Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-25 07:52:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4952401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysgocrazy/pseuds/alwaysgocrazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirsten Clark has a secret talent that she has suppressed for years now, only playing in private. It isn't until one Cameron Goodkin broke her, walking in on one of her secret performances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Songs She Plays

**Author's Note:**

> Here are piano covers of the songs mentioned. None of them are by me. Listen for your own pleasure c:
> 
> Somewhere Only We Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH1WN7WQNqI  
> She Will Be Loved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErRGDaUQEYc  
> The Reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUS25VQYIqE
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The case of the week was getting intense. The few leads they had only got them so far. It was almost dead, leaving a poor seven-year-old dead and without a name. Everyone was exhausted and stressed, many feeling bad for keeping the child away from the parents.

Kirsten locked herself in the house to try and focus alone. Maggie, of course, sent Cameron over to check on her. Something was definitely off, but not a bad off.

The door was unlocked when Cameron arrived. He opened it, expecting to see the blonde sitting on the couch or in the dining room with a plethora of papers and computers displayed in front of her. However, that was the case. There were things everywhere, yes, but no blonde to be seen. There was music.

Piano music. Not radio or pre-recorded, but live piano music. It was faint and coming from the back of the house. Cameron took it upon himself to go investigate. He recognized the song, smiling to himself. He found an open door that he never noticed before all the way in the back. Inside the secret room was a Baby Grand piano and a Kirsten sitting there playing. There were a few piles of old piano books in the corner of the room, but nothing else.

Cameron rested against the doorframe carefully, listening and watching Kirsten play “Somewhere Only We Know” beautifully. It was one of his favorite songs in high school and had completely forgotten about it until this point. He watched Kirsten’s fingers dance across the entire piano and tap her foot on the pedal before. When did she learn to play? Where did the room even come from? How come nobody knew about this secret talent of hers?

The song continued on and on. She would start over every time she messed up, fingering through her hair. Finally she nailed it and placed her hands in her lap. Cameron began clapping softly, causing her to whip around on the small bench. “Out. Now,” she said in a harsh tone, glaring at him with anger.

The smile Cameron had faded immediately. “But Kirsten—”

“Out!” she yelled.

He simply nodded and left the room, but didn’t leave the house. He open and closed the front door to try and trick Kirsten before sitting down on the couch. He waited there for her to come out, but she didn’t. After about fifteen minutes, the music came back. It was much slower. Cameron tried to put a name to the song, but struggled until she hit the chorus. “She Will Be Loved.” He smiled again to himself. It was so beautiful. It was slow, but he could hear the passion Kirsten was putting into it. He relaxed into the couch and just listened to her play. She nailed the song on the first time, playing through it all the way without stopping or starting over. It faded into “The Reason” by Hoobastank. Why was she playing all these old songs? Then Cameron thought about how those were popular songs when they were in middle school and high school. Ed must have gotten a piano and had her learn how to play at a young age, and maybe she stopped once in college. It was all speculation. Maybe she never stopped and only played when nobody was around and she was stressed. It didn’t matter to him. It was beautiful. He wanted to get up and go watch her again, but knew that wouldn’t end well.

Once the song ended, he heard footsteps. He stood up, but he wasn’t quick enough. Kirsten stopped at the end of the hallway and stared at him. “I told you to leave. I thought you left,” she stated dryly.

“Kirsten, you-you have a gift.”

“Thanks. Now get out of my house.”

“No,” Cameron said defiantly and stepped closer. “I want to hear more.”

“You’ve heard enough. Now I want you out.”

“Why? Why don’t you ever play?”

“I don’t like an audience. I had too many growing up. Now, I’m going to ask you one more time to leave or I’ll force you out.”

“Why did you stop? Did something happen?”

“Screwed up at my last recital.” She walked up and behind Cameron and began to push him towards the door. “Now, I want you out of here and never tell anyone about this. Ever.”

Cameron turned around and grabbed her arms. “What happened at your last recital?” he asked, making sure neither of them would leave.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said simply. “Please, Cameron, just go.”

Cameron shook his head. “No. I want to know. If you tell me, I’ll tell you why I quit theatre for science.”

Kirsten tilted her head slightly, now intrigued by Cameron’s confession. “Fine. At my last recital, when I was probably fifteen, I played the wrong song. And it was in front of over a thousand people, including some administrators from Julliard, NYU, and Berklee. If you were in theatre, you know they have some of the top music programs ever.” Her breathing was becoming more and more unsteady as she spoke. “I was supposed to play something from Beethoven but instead played ‘Somewhere Only We Know.’ Then I messed that up. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I played it like I had played hundreds of times before, but I fucked up every chance I had for getting into a good music program. At that point, I switched to computers and coding and just went to UCLA, a fall back school because of my grades. Your turn.”

Cameron didn’t even know what to say. His story was nowhere near as traumatic or awful as hers. Her whole future was ruined because of that experience. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, because maybe they would have never met. He inhaled deeply before starting his own story. “I did theatre all throughout high school. My parents thought it was a stupid hobby of mine. They forced science down my throat until I got to the point of loving it. I didn’t stop theatre until I started working on my doctorate.” He tried to offer a smile. “That’s my story.”

Kirsten simply scoffed. “So your parents pressured you into a new passion. I blew everything at that one recital. It was horrible.” She shook her head and looked down. “I vowed I would never play for anyone ever again. I only play when I know I’m home alone. And now?” She looked back up at Cameron. “I don’t think I’ll ever play again. Now, please…leave.”

At that point, he nodded and turned towards the door. Just before closing it, he turned and said, “Please don’t stop because of me. I don’t want to be the reason you quit forever, whether it’s by yourself or with other people.”

***

The next few weeks passed with some tension. Cameron made sure to knock every time he went over to Kirsten’s. He made sure to keep some distance and keep his mouth shut about everything.

One day, though, Kirsten came up to him in the breakroom and said, “Do you want to come over tonight? I think we need to talk about everything. Camille won’t be home and I don’t have anything else better to do.”

Cameron swallowed thickly. “Sure. I’ll bring some Chinese take-out if you want.”

She nodded simply, and that was that.

Cameron was at her place around seven with general Tso chicken and teriyaki chicken, their favorites. He knocked on the door and held up the bags when she answered. “I come bearing gifts,” he said in a deep voice.

A small smile crept across Kirsten’s face. “Come put it down on the table. I want to show you something before we eat.”

He nodded then followed her into the secret back room he found her in weeks before after placing their dinner down. He took a deep breath. The room was messier than before, sheet music and pens scattered everywhere. He looked around nervously. “Kirsten, y-you don’t have to—”

“What? Play you a song? I know I don’t. But I want to. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. It was just…” She sighed, taking a seat on the piano bench and gesturing for Cameron to do the same. “You’re the first person that I care about to hear me play since that recital. You’re the only living person I know personally who has heard me play. My mom, my dad, Ed, they’re the only ones who ever heard me play. But…they’re all dead now. So, you hearing me play was kind of a big deal.” Cameron smiled to which she smiled back. “I started working on a piece years ago, but I never finished. I thought I would play it for you, now that I have finished.”

“Well, I would be more than happy to listen,” he said, finally sitting down next to her.

And then the music started. It was so unique, so different. He watched Kirsten’s fingers flow across the piano. It started out slow, a few simple chords playing with single notes. But as she continued, it built up, minor chords and major chords mixing together and making a new sound. The beat became faster, the piano louder. Her eyes were closed and Cameron just sat there in admiration. She was so talented. He couldn’t even come close to doing what she was capable of. He slowly rested his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes to just listen.

The music finished just as it started: slow with simple chords and single notes. Kirsten took her hands off the piano and rested one on Cameron’s knee. “Did you like it?” she whispered, resting her head on top of his.

Cameron nodded. “It was beautiful,” he whispered. He laced their fingers together. “You really should play more often.”

Kirsten shook her head. “I don’t think so. This can be our little secret.”

Cameron smiled. “That works for me.” He tilted his head up and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for playing.” He stood up to leave but was prevented by Kirsten.

“Thanks for bringing me back out of my shell,” she said with a grin.

He nodded and squeezed her hand. “Any time.”

They stayed in that stance for quite a few moments. Kirsten was the one to break the comfortable silence. “You want to go out to dinner?”

Cameron nodded. “Yeah. I’d really enjoy that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this!
> 
> Kudos, comments, and critiques are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.


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